Hammering Out Your Own Knife

With this: Nothing but Knives, a three-day taste-of-blacksmithing class for hammering metal over
anvil and fire, accepting reservations now for December.

Look, we know you have cutlery to technically get you through Thanksgiving and the other holiday
meatstuffs. But compared to using a blade you’ve created Tony Stark-in-the-cave-style, they don’t offer
quite the same Middle Ages machismo.

You’ll start by reserving your spot and making your way to the former machine shop that is Prospect Hill
Forge in Waltham. Over three consecutive three-hour Sunday workshops, a man with 34 years of professional
metalwork experience (his name is Carl) will lead you through the necessary movements to bend steel. Think:
laying metal on fire, pounding said metal over an anvil... and grunting. Lots of grunting.

Eventually, after a warm-up run, you’ll wind up with a five-inch cutting blade you’ll sharpen by hand on
a bench stone (call it the great-great-grandfather of your sharpener from Brookstone).

And if you crave more hot-metal action, good news: this is a prerequisite for advanced knife-making at the
Forge.